'Increase of Over 800 Severe Surgery Fees' Applied First to Institutions Participating in Tertiary Hospital Structure Conversion Project

Next Year First Half, Number of Fee Increase Items to Expand to About 1,000

The government is raising the fees for about 800 major surgeries, prioritizing medical institutions participating in the tertiary general hospital restructuring pilot project.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 26th, the 'Tertiary General Hospital Restructuring Pilot Project,' which reorganizes tertiary general hospitals to focus on severe care and operates with skilled medical personnel such as specialists and physician assistant (PA) nurses while reducing dependence on residents, will be officially implemented following discussion and approval by the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee on the same day.

Previously, the government announced plans to raise fees for about 800 major surgeries in the second half of the year to address the issue of low fees. Medical institutions participating in the pilot project will receive the fee increase 'first.' Fees refer to the compensation paid by the National Health Insurance Corporation to medical institutions for medical services.

Tertiary general hospitals participating in the pilot project must increase the proportion of severe patients to 70% within three years or raise it to more than 50% of the current proportion. Depending on the location and size of the tertiary general hospital, general beds used by mild to moderate patients must be reduced by 5 to 15%.

Participating tertiary general hospitals must redesign their operations to reduce dependence on residents and focus on skilled professionals such as specialists and PA nurses. The proportion of residents should be lowered from the current 40% to 20%, while providing intensive training to them.

The government will also pursue compensation measures for losses due to the reduction of general beds and decrease in mild to moderate care. First, fees for intensive care units will be increased by 50%, and various incentives will be provided, including new compensation for on-call and standby costs to strengthen 24-hour emergency medical functions.

The fee increase for about 800 major surgeries will be applied first to tertiary general hospitals participating in the pilot project, then expanded to general hospitals in the first half of next year, with the number of fee increase items rising to about 1,000.

In this process, tertiary general hospitals participating in the restructuring project will receive an 'additional' fee increase to further strengthen compensation from the pilot project.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated, "The fee increase for major surgeries, conducted as fair compensation, will be applied first to hospitals entering the tertiary general hospital restructuring pilot project in order. The number of fee increase items will expand from about 800 this year to about 1,000 next year."